[lycier]

opener----responder

1M------------2M

3M------------?

now,what do you think of the meanings of 3M?

[Zelandakh]

This can be any of 1-2-3-stop; a power invite; or a trump invite. Some pairs play it differently depending on which major is involved.

[gwnn]

I like
1M-2M
3M as 6 cards and a little bit better than a minimum. So it is 1-2-3 "almost stop." Responder should raise with any shortness or any hand with 4-card support.

[Codo]

This is the novice and beginner forum, so I would explain it as invitational.

[gwnn]

I mean you are right that all novices play it that way but what if a novice/beginner asks you what it should be? Chances are they were playing it as invitational and are wondering if there are better uses available. We might as well answer their question no?

[the hog]

The meaning is whatever you and your partner have agreed to.

[lycier]

Zelandakh, on 2012-November-23, 06:03, said:

This can be any of 1-2-3-stop; a power invite; or a trump invite. Some pairs play it differently depending on which major is involved.

yes,I agree,1-2-3 stop had been out of fashion,I regard 3M as a trump invitation,its meanings is to tell partner that I need a decent trump support for game.

[P_Marlowe]

Whatever you believe works best, will do.

In general I prefer it to be some sort of invite, ... if you are N/B than the adv. is,
if you forgot your agreement, at least you know it invites.

In most case you have a min, than you decline the invite, or you have a max, than you
accept, regardless of your answer to the implict question, that got asked.

The truth is, it rarely matters you would need to play lots of hands, to see a difference,
so ... whatever you believe works best, will do.

We play it as trump quality ask, never came up.

I like the suggestion, that 3M showes a 6th card.

With kind regards
Marlowe

[fbuijsen]

gwnn, on 2012-November-23, 16:18, said:

I mean you are right that all novices play it that way but what if a novice/beginner asks you what it should be? Chances are they were playing it as invitational and are wondering if there are better uses available. We might as well answer their question no?

There are two ways to use this information:
(1) For your own bidding.
(2) To understand opponents' bidding.

For the first, it's best for a novice to stick to methods that are (1) simple, (2) easy to understand and remember and (3) technically reasonable.
For this, it's best to play the 3M bid in this situation as invitational ("Partner, please bid game if you are maximum for your 2M bid").

For the 2nd, it's useful for a novice to know that there are other methods available, and that specifically 3M as a semi-preemptive bid is fairly popular.

I note that Michael Rosenberg in his book "Bridge, Zia and Me" insisted that the "invitational approach is by far superior technically.

[mgoetze]

lycier, on 2012-November-23, 05:55, said:

opener----responder

1M------------2M

3M------------?

now,what do you think of the meanings of 3M?

I'm not sure why you posted this in the "Novice and Beginner Forum". I agree with Codo - in this context it is basically any invite. If you were actually looking for a discussion at a more advanced level, I refer you to my 2 favourite posts from 2007: http://www.bridgebas...447#entry193447

[eagles123]

I understand it as being quite pre-emptive to stop the opponents coming in

i.e.

1S P 2S DBL


AJxxxx
x
KJx
Qx

might consider raising to 3 here type thing

[Antig2]

lycier, on 2012-November-23, 05:55, said:

opener----responder

1M------------2M

3M------------?

now,what do you think of the meanings of 3M?

1M-2M-3M is generally invitation with about nt strength: 14-16pt equivalent or 15-17pts. It is acceptable to try a game with 23+pts, so 1M-2M-4M may be bid with 17 or 18pts. A more conservative approach is 19+. Everyone has his own style how to count dummy pts.